


Just Drunk Enough

by Talliya



Series: Final Fantasy RPs [4]
Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-22
Updated: 2016-05-24
Packaged: 2018-05-22 13:20:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6080868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talliya/pseuds/Talliya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Reno gets drunk enough, certain things come to light, certain things that otherwise would NEVER be known.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Drunk Enough to Dance

**Author's Note:**

> Another RP between my Rude and grandpatoenail's Reno.  
> We do not own any rights to Final Fantasy 7 or its characters. This work is not for profit.

Reno was downing his 4th ‘Angry Ginger’ and starting to get a little looser. He’d give a wink to almost anyone passing by and it was only going to get more entertaining from there.

Tifa simply shook her head at the crazy redhead as he got more and more drunk in her bar. She wondered briefly where Rude was, but didn't ask. He would probably come in just after Reno had done something truly stupid and fix the situation.

Reno had a young woman approach him and the redhead couldn't ignore his favorite color in such a beautiful form. She was dressed in a floor length, red, masquerade style dress. "Damn, nice threads, yo." he slurred, looking the woman over. She giggled at the obviously drunk man and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you." Reno really liked the dress but a little more than he thought he would.

A man with slicked back blue shot black hair and a suit to match any Turks walked over to Reno with a smirk. "I see that look boy, you REALLY like that dress don't you?" he waved at the woman still leaning seductively against the bar next to Reno. "How about a wager?"

Reno looked over at the man and raised an eyebrow. "I like red so I guess." he explained with a shrug and sipped at his next drink. "What 'wager' ya got in mind?"

The Turk chuckled... it would seem Reno was too drunk to recognize him, even better. Twain smiled down at him, "I bet you a month’s worth of Rufus Shinra's allowance that that dress won't fit you."

Reno looked at the woman then back to his drink. "She's thin but not too thin so I probably could. I ain't coughin' up that much money fer a wager like that. Think o' somethin' else."

Twain's eyes sparkled, "I bet you your next drink that she'd never let you find out anyway."

Reno rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine." The redhead got up and walked over to the woman, tapping her shoulder. "Hey, so I got this wager that I should be able to fit into that dress." he explained ever so bluntly. "I'll give ya 'few bucks if ya let me try it on so I can keep my next drink." The woman was surprisingly alright with this. "I'll just change in the bathroom'r whatever, take a picture as proof an' give it back." She nodded and they made their way into the bathroom unnoticed. A quick clothing swap, a photo, and a thief? The woman laughed and walked out in HIS uniform, leaving Reno stuck in the dress, shoes and all. "Shit." At least she wasn't cruel enough to take his phone. No one needed that image on the web. Reno tried being patient but he couldn't wait until the bar closed. He took a deep breath and just walked out acting as though he'd done it a million times, taking his seat again. "It fits now let me enjoy my fuckin' drink."

Twain blinked as the woman came out in Reno's uniform and nodded toward his partner Hank over by the door. Hank would deal with their thief, honestly they'd been after her for WEEKS now. Then he grinned as Reno came back out in the dress... he looked _good_ in it. 

"Red really does suit you Reno. Here Tifa, his next drink's on me." He passed over the gil needed and went out with Hank and their prisoner to take her in. They passed Rude on their way to their car and Twain winked at him, "Yer gonna LOVE what you find inside Shades."

"Why the hell do ya think it's my nickname?" Reno suddenly had a few people, male and female, coming around and offering him a drink or two. It was a dress! Did they think he was a woman or did a guy in a dress just turn them on? Either way, he accepted the offers and few kisses here and there. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. Attention was all he asked for and this certainly got it.

Rude quirked an eyebrow at the two men... was that woman wearing his partner's uniform? Rude hurried inside to see Reno receiving drinks, kisses, grops and more from people in the bar. The redhead was simply soaking it up... which made the shaded Turk decidedly jealous. 

However, as he neared his partner he wondered if he could convince him to keep the dress. He looked bloody amazing in it! Rude was nearly drooling when he reached the bar. He stood behind Reno at the counter, the other was currently kissing some sleezy looking moneybags so hadn't noticed him yet. He raised his hand to Tifa who sent down a Long Island Ice Tea and he turned to face Reno as the liplock ended. He leaned over his partner's shoulder and whispered in his ear, "Attention whore."

Reno moaned into the kiss but blinked in surprize when Rude's voice echoed in his ear. "Hm?" Reno snickered a bit and lightly hiccuped before pulling Rude in for a kiss of his own. "Yer just jealous. Ya know I like attention. I never denied that."

Rude let his friend kiss him, "Hell yes I'm jealous. I want YOUR attention." He turned back to his drink with a slight blush.

Reno wasn't expecting that one. He sat closer to his partner and kissed his shoulder before resting his head on it. "Ya just had to say so. I can give attention too." A few more people came over to offer Reno more drinks and affection but he shooed them away for the moment and rested his chin on Rude's shoulder once more. "What do ya want? Just kisses an' stuff?" Reno was getting uncomfortable and simply sat on Rude's lap instead. "We could have some fun when we get back. Plus, I'm keepin' the dress if it turns ya on." he said with a laugh. "Never thought you were the type to like it."

Rude smiled as Reno kissed his shoulder and drunkenly asked him what he'd like, it always happened when Reno was drunk. Then the next morning the redhead never freaking remembered! One of these days Rude was gonna grow a backbone and just fuck the man when he was sober. He wrapped an arm around Reno as he settled onto his lap, "I _love_ the dress. You look amazing in it." he nibbled on Reno's ear a bit, "Though if you're really up for some fun, we should go back now." He shifted Reno over so that his erection dug into the redhead's ass.

Reno shivered at the sensation of Rude nipping his ear and leaned into him when he felt that always welcomed embrace, jumping a bit when he felt the man's erection. He then grinned and purred into his partner's ear. "We could just get in the back of yer car, ya know. I know ya love that thing an' maybe we could find some fun ideas in there."

"Heh, I do love my car... but that's no place to do the things I want to do to you right now." Rude rumbled in his ear.

"Then, take me home so you _can_." Reno licked his lips, wondering what Rude had in store for him. "This dress is fuckin' cold anyway. Why don't you warm me up?" he teased.

Rude grinned at him, "Tease. Finish yer drink hotrod." Rude finished his own and paid Tifa before standing and waiting for Reno to finish.

Reno finished his last drink and stood, a bit wobbly from so many 'kind offers'. That was a lot of alcohol. Reno grabbed Rude's arm and began to walk with him. "Whoa, I never get this bad, do I? Heh, guess I'm past my limit." Now _that_ was saying something. He frowned for a moment. "Fuck, I got a mission tomorrow but I'm gonna have one hell of a nasty hangover."

Rude grinned and swung Reno up into his arms before walking the rest of the way out of the bar with quick strides. "You'll be fine. I'll make you some of Sephiroth's wakeup juice in the morning and no one will know you were ever drinking in the first place."

Reno nodded and nuzzled into Rude's chest. Gaia, he was warm. There was nothing on the planet that was as comforting, sexy, yet peaceful as Rude. He just seemed to have an answer for everything as well. "Thanks, yo." he mumbled as he was carried out. "Did ya bring yer car'r some company car?"

"Mine of course. I'm off duty. Two Gun and Big H are on call at the moment." Rude smiled down at his cargo before gently kissing Reno's hair. He walked over to his Mustang and opened the side door without dropping Reno and placed the man inside. "Buckle up."

Rude was lucky he was the only person other than Reno himself that was allowed to touch his hair without a blow to the jaw. He actually loved it when Rude played with it or kissed his head like that. When he was sat in the car, Reno buckled in and rested back against the seat with a sigh, waiting for Rude to get in and bring them back.

Rude went around the car after closing the door on Reno's form and got into the driver’s seat. He fired up the engine and drove them back to the Turks quarters at ShinRa HQ. "Alright beautiful," Rude got out and went around to scoop Reno from his front seat, "Time for some real fun."

"Yer just gonna bring me in like this?" Then again, what other choice did he have? He could stumble in and get lost or have Rude carry him in but either way, he was stuck in a dress. The 'beautiful' comment didn't go unnoticed but as strange as it was to Reno, he didn't mind it...he liked it. Yup, he was smashed. "And what fun do ya have planned?" Reno whispered.

Rude simply smirked down at the man as he made their way through the building from the parking garage. He never let Reno touch the ground through all the opening of doors and elevator rides, until they reached Rude's own room. He'd have taken them to Reno's room... but the last time Rude had a drunk Reno to play with... there'd been some woman waiting in Reno's room for him. He wasn't risking that again.

Reno enjoyed being held so close, even when he got a few stares in the elevator. He simply kept his eyes closed and smiled at how nice Rude's heartbeat was. Slow, deep, heavy. It was soothing to say the least. When they entered Rude's room, the redhead didn't bother moving. He just stayed in Rude's arms until he felt like setting him down. "Hey, Rude?" he mumbled. "W'can I call ya?" He wasn't exactly making sense but he did have a reason for what he was saying, it just seemed out of context. "Ya called me beautiful...W'do ya want me to call ya?" he repeated, looking up with his cheeks still reddened from his alcohol intake and his eyes glazed over from the comfort of his partner's arms.

Rude simply shook his head in amusement before settling Reno on his couch. He went over and closed and locked his door before taking his suit jacket and tie off, hanging them on a peg beside the door. Moving back to Reno he knelt on the floor and ran a warm hand up the redhead's calf. "You don't need to call me anything Reno." He leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the lips.

Reno wasn't used to having clothes on but at the same time 'not' having them on. The dress was more revealing and allowed for more unexpected physical contact. He felt goosebumps raise on his skin and and kissed Rude back.

Rude smirked into the kiss, "Goosebumps Red? I usually have to do much more than this to get a reaction like that." He carded his hand higher until it rested on Reno's hip, "Have you ever tried dancing Reno?"

Reno snickered. "This fuckin' dress makes it hard to tell where I can feel stuff and where I can't. I don't exactly expect to feel skin touch my thigh if I'm in regular clothes." He continued listening to Rude as he ran his hand over him. "Other than break-dancing or just groovin' with a song, nah. I don't know any specific dance styles."

Rude chuckled and fluidly rose to his feet bringing Reno with him. He turned to his stereo and pressed play before turning back to Reno. He grabbed the redhead around the waist and pulled him to him, grabbing Reno's left hand in his right he began to slowly turn in circles as the classical music flooded the room.

Reno only managed 3 spins before the alcohol reminded him it wasn't a great idea. The redhead stopped the spinning by pressing a hand to Rude's chest. "M...Makin' me dizzy." he said, blinking a few times before looking between the stereo and Rude. "I don't know how to slow dance, yo." He held Rude's arm to stay steady then frowned. "If I'ma learn to dance, these are comin' off." he said, leaning on his partner to remove the 3 inch heels he'd been wearing.

"Aww but you were doing so well in them Reno. Especially for how drunk you are." Rude said as he held him steady as he took the heels off.

The smaller Turk snickered and kissed his partner. "Ya sure ya don't just like seein' me in'em?" he asked and scratched gently at Rude's facial hair.

"I won't deny it if that's what you're waiting for." Rude smiled down at him.

Reno gave Rude the option and kept the shoes on. They weren't uncomfortable...yet, so he'd dance in them for now. "Just no more spinnin', a'right?"

"Alright." Rude pulled him close again with a smile and simply swayed side to side, running his hands up and down Reno's body.

That felt much better. "Is it weird that I like this thing?" Reno wondered out loud, quirking a brow. He was staring straight at Rude's chest but mostly into space. The movements were easier to follow after a while and Reno was starting to get the hang of it.

“Well, I like it, so I don’t think I’m allowed to judge.” Rude chuckled quietly. The feel of Reno swaying against him - with him - was almost more than he could take. But he wanted this to last, and if Reno wasn’t going to remember any of it the next morning, Rude sure as Gaia was!

Reno laughed. “I’m such a weirdo. Oh well, it keeps life fun at least.” He blushed and bit his lip. “And, hey, why not live out a fetish while I’m in this predicament anyway?” Now that he was able to keep up, Reno focused more on just teasing his partner. He began nipping his neck and jaw, gently pulling his largest hook like earring passed his lips and played with it, flicking it with his tongue.

“You have a fetish for when you’re in a dress?” Yep, Rude had officially heard it all. While he enjoyed the attention Reno was giving him he was curious. “What exactly would that be?”

Reno froze for a moment. He’d said too much, hadn’t he? “F-Forget it. It’s the alcohol talking.” He fibbed with his face turning bright red.

“I don’t believe you.” He stated baldly and then ducked his head to nibbled on Reno’s neck. “Tell the truth Reno.” He stepped back, clearing his body from Reno’s and folded his arms across his chest.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, no teasing.” He whined, placing a hand over his neck when Rude stepped back. The smaller Turk looked to the floor, knowing Rude wasn’t planning on letting up. “Nothin’, yo. I shouldn’t o’ said anythin’. I say stupid shit when I’m drunk, ya know that. It...it’s embarrassin’.” He admitted, keeping his gaze on the floor and still rubbing his neck.

“Drunk enough to say it, but sober enough to be embarrassed. I think you need more alcohol Reno.” So saying Rude moved over to his sparse liquor cabinet and pulled out a shotglass and his bottle of mango vodka.

Reno knew he was in way over his head now. “Um, I think I’m gonna head to bed early tonight.” With that, he snuck off to the bedroom and sat on the bed, facepalming just thinking of what he’d done. “Fuckin’ hell, he’d never let me live it down.”

“You’re not going to get away from me by sleeping in MY bed Reno. If you really wanted to escape, you should have headed for your own room.” Rude said as he followed him into the bedroom and closed the door.

Reno took a glance around to see that he had indeed walked into the wrong room. “Oh my God. Just kill me now.” He said, burying his red face in his hands. He jumped when Rude closed the door behind him. "Yer kinda freakin' me out now."

Rude sighed and fought a mental battle with himself for several seconds before he sighed again. “Alright, let’s get you to bed then.” He opened his bedroom door again and then walked over to Reno, grabbing up a loose blanket from his bed he wrapped the man into it before lifting him in his arms again. Once he had the redhead he headed out of the room, across his living space and opened the door to the hallway. He moved down the corridors with his seemingly quickly sobering friend until they reached said man’s own door. Rude placed Reno on his feet again and bent down to pick up Reno’s ID card which was sticking out under his door, and slide the card over the panel to open the door. He herded Reno into the room and set the card on a stand near the door before leaving again. “Goodnight Reno.” Once back in the safety of his own room he let out a gusty sigh, “I’m never gonna get what I want when the only time he even sees me is when he’s drunk.” Disheartened all over again he turned off everything, locked his doors, dropped his clothing and climbed into bed. He fell asleep to the sound of pouring rain on his single window.

Reno could only stare at his closed door as Rude returned to his own room. He could help but notice the look on his friend’s face before he left. Being too stubborn for his own good, Reno opened his door and strutted back down the hall, ignoring the looks he was getting from passersby, then slammed on his partner’s door. “Don’t just leave me hangin’ like that, Rude!” he yelled in an almost scolding tone. “Open the door!”

Rude didn’t hear Reno pounding on his door as when they lock their bedroom doors the room because completely soundproof, no sound gets in, no sound gets out...with the exception of his cracked open window.

Reno finally sobered enough to remember how the damn doors worked at grabbed his phone, texting his partner to come open the door. “I’m not joking! Get off yer butt and let me in! I need to talk to ya! I swear I’ll pick the damn lock if I have to!” Reno had managed to do so on many occasions and was still surprised Rufus hadn’t fixed them to be quite Reno proof yet.

Rude’s PHS was left out in the living room on the coffee table and so he slept through the night peacefully because unlike the rest of the ShinRa building he had Reno-proofed his rooms himself.

Reno was ready to pop a blood vessel but stormed off back to his room, knowing Rude was intent on ignoring him. Before going to bed, he grabbed his phone once more and chose spamming the man was his best option. “At least he’ll get these in the morning!” Reno did NOT like being ignored, especially by his best friend and sent multiple messages. “I don’t know what the hell’s up with you but you owe me a talk!” –send- “Why would you just ditch me? I get that I wasn’t too keen on talking about some stuff but why just kick me out?!” –send- “I didn’t do anything wrong! You better fuckin’ explain this bullshit tomorrow!” –send-. Reno finally slammed his phone shut and stripped down to his boxers, slipping into bed with a heavy frown on his face. “Asshole.” He muttered before closing his eyes.


	2. Frustration Wins

Rude woke to a very chilled room and closed his slightly open window and headed for the thermostat. He turned it up to 22 degrees Celsius and unlocked his bedroom door. Then he grabbed fresh clothing from his closet and dresser and headed to his bathroom for a shower. Once clean and dressed he headed out to his living room for his PHS. He picked it up and checked the charge - seeing multiple missed calls and messages from Reno he heaved a sigh. He listened to and read all of them, he’d been hoping they would all be verbal instead of texts… that way Reno wouldn’t be forced to ask questions about them if he didn’t remember. It had happened before and Rude didn’t think he could handle it this time. He’d almost raped his best friend for crying out loud! He pocketed his PHS with a groan and headed for the ShinRa Cafeteria for breakfast before clocking in to work, it was going to be a long day.

When Reno woke up, his head was pounding. Remembering where he was and why, he hopped out of bed to go figure out what was going on with his partner. He was furious when he saw Rude answered none of his texts to explain himself. The redhead quickly jumped in the shower, cleaned up, dried of, brushed his hair, got dressed, and grabbed his gear before running out. He searched a bit before asking Elena where Rude was. Reno knew he wasn’t still in bed, considering he was such a workaholic.

Elena was a bit surprised to see Reno up so much earlier than usual, especially with his clothes messier than usual, his beloved hair still wet from his shower, and the angry look on his face.“I passed him a few minutes ago. I think he’s headed to the cafeteri-“

“Thanks. Later, Lani!” Reno said, cutting Elena off and dashing to the cafeteria, not wanting to miss his partner. He WAS going to get answers! He spotted Rude and silently walked up behind him, tapping the back of his head. “We’re talkin’, /now/.”

Rude was just heading to a table with his tray of breakfast foods when he heard the familiar staccato of Reno’s boots on the floor, then there was a tapping on the back of his head and a sentence growled at him rather threateningly. “Sure thing Red, go grab something to eat. I was just heading over to our usual table.” So saying he kept on walking towards it and sat down. He wasn’t sure if Reno would get food first or not, he doubt it to be honest, but he was starving!

“No! Now, Rude!” Reno’s voice caught most of the room’s attention and a few people stared as the redhead marched over to his partner, snatching his tray and slamming it on the opposite side of the table. “Eat later! You owe me a fuckin’ explanation!” he growled, grabbing his partner’s arm to get him to stand. He could understand if Rude didn’t want to talk about it here but Reno was going to get his answers.

Rude calmly took his shades off and set them down next to his now rather disrupted tray on the other end of the table. Then he glared up at his partner from his seat. “I don’t owe you shit, Reno!” He wrenched his arm from Reno’s grasp. “Exactly how the fuck am “I” owing you an explanation? You’re the one who gets so drunk you can’t remember shit, then when you start to sober up you act like an asshole. Goddess! Do you even know how many times this shit has happened?!”

Rude paused to regain his composure and lowered his voice back to normal tones again, “If you’re angry that I dropped you off in your own room so you could sleep off your drunken stupor, and didn’t answer any of your calls or texts when I woke up this morning and found them, you’re more pathetic than I thought. Because that’s a bullshit reason to be angry with someone. You wanted to sleep; obviously not in my bed. So I took you to your own. Then I went back and went to bed myself. I’d left my phone by the couch, otherwise it would have woken me. For that I am sorry. I didn’t realize you would freak out so bad just because I took you to your room.” He sat there glaring at his best friend, not daring to reach for his food or shades until Reno was done.

Reno fell completely silent, his face darkening a few shades. He could never remember Rude saying anything like that to him. Reno knew something had happened and he knew it was something that had made Rude change his mind about letting him stay. How many times what has happened? Sure, Reno liked to drink but he remembered a good amount of it and it had never ended like this. Reno wasn’t angry for being returned to his room or for Rude not answering his texts. He was angry because he knew something happened that Rude wasn’t telling him. Had he done something to Rude he couldn’t remember? The thought terrified the redhead. He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard a SOLDIER whisper to another.

“Ooooouuuuch. That’s gotta sting.” He said with a snicker. Cissnei was watching from her seat, just as surprised with what was happening. Reno was a pain and often spoke out of line but she couldn’t remember Rude ever saying anything like that to his friend, not that she could blame his anger. Then again, she didn’t know what had lead up to this.

Reno bit his lip in embarrassment and worry over what might have happened and awkwardly backed away, then made his way out of the room. He quietly headed to HQ, not sure what else to do after that.

Rude sighed as dawning horror crossed over Reno’s face, so he didn’t remember enough to realize why Rude was upset after all. He watched as Reno left the room, glared at the SOLDIER who had made the snarky comment. Then he ate his food and drank his coffee. When he was finished he went through the line again with a ‘To-Go’ box and cup. He grabbed some bacon, sausage, a creampuff, a large cinnamon roll, and coffee for Reno before he headed upstairs to the Department of Administrative Research. He then proceeded to look for Reno. He found him dejectedly looking over paperwork. “Here, you didn’t get anything to eat down there. You need to keep your strength up.” He sat the food and coffee down on a stack of folders since there wasn’t a clear space on Reno’s cluttered desk. Then he went to his own and started working himself.

Reno didn’t look up, not wanting to see Rude’s usually calm eyes so angry. Nor did he respond, never wanting to hear that voice so furious again. If anything, Reno was...scared. What could he have done to make Rude that mad? They were the only ones there but Rude was the only one who could remember what happened. The redhead did his best to try and remember. What had he done?!

“Reno.” The Turk looked up to see Tseng staring at him. “Focus on your work. Stop daydreaming.”

Looking down, Reno noticed an ink blotch on the page from where he’d let the pen stay on the paper while he drifted into his thoughts. “My bad.” He responded, continuing to fill the page out.

Rude spent the next several hours of drone work trying to find the best way to tell Reno that he had never done anything wrong, that Rude wasn’t mad at him, without giving away his stupid little secret. Finally he couldn’t take it anymore! Between the confused and occasionally hostile looks from Cissnei, Tseng and Elena and the mopey rejected sighs emanating from Reno… there was no way he could let this continue. Even if it had been the longest time in Turk history that Reno didn’t prank someone. He finished up his paperwork for the moment and stood up, walked slowly around his desk and came to a stop beside Reno’s chair. With an inward defeated sigh he wrapped his arms around his partner’s neck and pulled him to his chest in a hug. “I’m sorry Reno. I didn’t mean to make you so upset, or explode at you earlier. You really haven’t done anything wrong. I’m just tired of doing fun things with you and you not remembering them afterwards.”

Reno flinched and gave a very surprised and confused look. His face went red when Rude explained. He was happy it wasn’t something he did and he was glad Rude was letting him know now. However, the redhead ducked his head a bit lower, hiding most of his face from his coworkers. Reno flirted openly with just about anyone but this kind of stuff; he was not used to bringing up around others. He wasn’t even sure how to respond. He didn’t want Rude to think he wasn’t grateful though so he nodded, hoping Rude would understand he accepted his apology. Reno wanted to talk to his partner about what really happened and what exactly he meant. What did they do that he kept forgetting?

A relieved sigh left Rude’s body when Reno nodded his head, “We can talk about if after work if you’d like. If you don’t have other plans already.” He let Reno go and moved back to his own desk.

Reno nodded again and remained quite still for a moment. He knew Rude had a gentle side to him but he was surprised by the tender gesture, not that he was complaining. Reno’s face went red when he heard Cissnei giggle at the touching moment but he quickly got back to work and finally took a sip of his coffee. He finished his breakfast in no time once he realized just how hungry he was.

Rude smiled when Reno finally started eating, it seemed they were as good as they were going to get for the moment. When lunch time rolled around Rude got up and wandered back down to the cafeteria to grab something quick. He came back with a loaf of Pheonix Bread, a pound of good old cheddar cheese, a summer sausage and several bottles of Lifestream Lite, a drink that tastes something between blueberries and mangos. “Hey Kane! Can I borrow a knife?”

Kayleen looked up from her desk, saw the food and grinned. “Sure, so long as I get some.”

Rude nodded and Kayleen tossed him a knife from across the room. Rude cut several slices of the bread, the the meat and cheese - gathered them together and headed over to Kayleen. “Here’s your share.” Kayleen took the morsels and Rude went back to his desk to repeat the process before taking some over to Reno. “Want some?”

Reno raised an eyebrow but accepted the food, giving his partner a quick nod in thanks before taking a bite. It was then he realized, he hadn’t spoken to anyone other than Tseng since the incident with Rude in the cafeteria that morning. Why was he being so quiet? He felt as though it was almost unsafe to. Then again, speaking did tend to get him INTO most of his messes but this was different. He just didn’t want to say anything.

Rude smiled and went back to his desk to fix his own food. He cleaned the knife off before tossing it back to Kayleen.

“Goddess damn it! What have I told you about throwing weapons around up here!” Veld yelled at them as he saw the knife whirl by his office door as he opened it.

Kayleen caught the knife and put it away, “Um… what was it?”

Shane snickered from across the room, “That it shouldn’t be done.”

“Oh, right. That was it.” Kayleen shrugged and went back to eating and working.

Veld just shook his head at them all and went downstairs for food of his own. Rude smirked and sat down to eat and work himself.

Reno rolled his eyes at Veld and stuck his tongue out at the man as he left, finishing off hid food. He looked at Rude across the room and sighed. He needed to get all this out of the way so he could just take a breath. Opening his phone, he texted his partner, asking if they could go talk somewhere and sort out whatever happened.

Feeling his PHS vibrate he grappled with his pants pocket to get it out. Seeing what Reno had written he nearly ignored it. But then he sighed, if he was gonna lose his best friend, he might as well get it over with. So he typed back: ‘Sure, where to?’

Reno checked Rude’s response, keeping his gaze away from everyone. “Anywhere we can talk alone.”

Rude got up once he finished eating and stolled over to the elevator banks, tagging Reno’s shoulder as he went.

Reno followed, keeping his arms crossed and biting his lip nervously. “W-...” There it was again. Nothing but silence. He just wanted to ask what happened but he was literally too scared to ask. He wasn’t afraid of finding out what it was. The redhead frowned when it dawned on him. He wasn’t just afraid to talk to Rude; he was afraid OF Rude. Reno had never been afraid of him, even if he freaked at him. It was something about what happened in the cafeteria but he wasn’t entirely sure what.

Rude could tell that Reno was nervous, which was starting to scare him, Reno was never nervous. They entered the elevator and Rude set it to go to the top floor. Once it dinged he led them out and to the men’s bathroom on that floor. He checked carefully to make sure no one was in there making out, and then locked the door. “Alright, most people never come up here and the bathrooms have no listening devices or cameras. So it’s safe as it’s gonna get.” He swallowed, “What’s bothering you so badly?”

Reno shook his head dismissively and leaned against a stall wall, crossing his arms once more. “Just...” The redhead looked to the dirty tile floor. “Tell me what happened. I can remember and only you know.” His voice was hardly there but it was enough. “I didn’t...‘do anything’, did I?”

“I already told you that you didn’t do anything.” Rude side and sat on the counter between two sinks. “What do you remember of the bar?”

“Just that I was drunk enough to wind up in some chick’s dress, you taking me home, and we were talkin’ fer a bit but something bugged you so you brought me back to my place. It’s all kind of mashed together.” Reno hated this feeling. He wanted to talk openly with Rude. This was good! He didn’t do anything so it was infuriating Reno that he was still so shaken by what happened this morning! He’d taken it a little more personally than he ever expected he would. “Pathetic...you mean it? That really what you think of me?”

Rude’s face drained of color, “No! No, not at all. I just said that because I was angry and figured you were made because I didn’t answer your texts back.” Rude scrubbed his face with his hands, setting his shades aside.

“I know you like to flirt,” He smiled at his friend, “It’s part and parcel of who you are, you’ve always been like that. But then you get drunk...and you’ll go home with anyone who strikes your fancy. I had to rescue you from Don Corneo once you know?” He shook his head.

“Sometimes you’d leave with people that were fine, go out and have fun with ‘em, come back to work in your walk of shame clothes. But not all of them are the best people ever.” He sighed, “I worry about you constantly. It’s part of why I try to be the person to take you home and nurse you back to sobriety. Though sometimes,” He chuckled, “You seriously don’t want anything to do with me.”

He paused for a moment, “But last night, Twain bet you that woman wouldn’t let you wear her dress. Said woman being that chameleon thief they’ve been after. I never thought you’d do something like that to be honest. It threw me a bit. Though I guess with you having some sorta dress fetish, it could possibly make sense.” He raised an eyebrow at his partner.

Reno’s eye twitched at the mention of Don Corneo. ‘Walk of shame clothes?!’ The Turk thought and frowned, not liking how his partner was explaining this in the least until he started saying how he was always worried about him. He didn’t like having some kind of monitor but he hadn’t realized he was worrying his partner. Reno continued to listen. So THAT’S who she was. Wait, it was them making the bet about the dress? Wow, he must have been out of it! The redhead’s face darkened a bit at the mention of the how willing he was to wear the dress. “What do ya mean by ‘it threw you’? You know I do stupid shit when I’m drunk.” He said, trying to brush off the dress fetish thing like it was only the alcohol that made him do it.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought too. But mostly what threw me was how good you looked in it.” Rude grinned, “Red really is your color.” He settled his back against the mirror with a sigh. “But you only mentioned the dress fetish after you started sobering up in my living room. Then when I tried to ask you what you meant by it, you shrugged it off as alcohol induced, said you were going to go to bed early and went into mine. I guess me closing and locking the door, saying I was going to get the truth out of you freaked you out though...so I took you to your own room. That’s really all it was.”

Reno blushed and sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck with a smirk. “Believe it or not, there are some things I’m embarrassed to tell even you, partner. Why do ya think I go home with different people? If they’re into it, they can’t judge.” There were very few people who’s opinion Reno cared about but Rude was at the top of the list when it came to opinions he did care about.

Rude jerked up right, out-right shock covering his face. “You seriously think I would judge you?” His voice was shallow and squeaked in certain places. Rude was floored, he couldn’t believe it, he’d known Reno practically forever, he never ‘judged’ him for anything! If he weren’t so surprised he’d be pissed off.

Reno went wide eyed at Rude’s response, flinching back a bit. “Well, I-I didn’t know! I didn’t think it was anything important to talk about!” he responded, putting his hands up defensively. “Why do ya think I walked away when ya asked me about it? I thought that was part of the reason ya got pissed an’ brought me to my room. Like I said, it’s all mixed up in my head so I didn’t know if I did something or if one thing led to another. I remember ya asked about the dress thing...I think and so I said I was goin’ to bed.”

“Reno, you’re my best friend. I would never judge you for anything. I never have. It doesn’t really matter that you never mentioned a fetish or whatever, what bothers me is that when you did you tried to lie to me about it.” Rude hopped off of the counter, “I love you. I just want you to be happy. I really can’t believe you thought I could be shallow like that.” Rude stopped, seemingly collapsing in on himself. He thought about leaving the room, but Reno was still near the door, so he just tried his damnedest to keep the tears at bay.

Reno had no clue Rude would be so hurt by his embarrassment to tell him. This was turning out almost as bad as he feared at the beginning because in one way, he had hurt Rude. “It’s not that I thought you’d be shallow about it. I just didn’t know what yer reaction would be and it’s...it’s embarrassin’, a’right? Not many people know and I kinda wanted to keep it that way. When you asked last night, it was like my mouth just wouldn’t let me say it. I know it’s stupid, okay? I know I shouldn’t care but I do. It’s not that I just chose not to tell YOU though. I’d be mortified if anyone at Shinra knew about some of that stuff. It’s not cause I think they’re shallow though.”

Rude stood there fighting with himself, then he gave up. “It’s alright Red. Let’s just head back to work before Veld comes back from lunch and fires us.” He went over and unlocked the door, then leaned down and dropped a quick kiss on Reno’s still confounded lips before heading out the door.

Reno wasn’t sure what to do. He didn’t return the kiss because it was so quick but the redhead felt almost as bad leaving the room as he did coming in. He could see Rude was hurt but he knew they would probably both brush it off soon enough. However, seeing Rude like that wasn’t something Reno could handle for long. The smaller Turk frowned and quickly pulled Rude back in before anyone could notice and hugged him. He still had an angry expression but held his partner tightly. “This whole thing was stupid, I’m sorry fer hurtin’ ya, an’ I don’t wanna see ya upset so smile, a’right? I dicked up.”

Rude smiled down at his friend, “It’s alright. I get it, I can understand being embarrassed about something. It’s not like I tell you everything either. Just, don’t hide it from me or lie about it when it comes out. That’s all I ask.” Rude hugged him back.

Reno was happy his last little effort worked. “Sure thing.” Reno didn’t think Rude would take a little secret so hard but if it hurt him, it wasn’t going to happen. The redhead was probably one of the few, if not, the only Turk oblivious to Rude’s true feelings towards him. Reno could hug and kiss pretty much anyone just as a joke or to tease them. He was an extremely cuddly person so he assumed all the stuff Rude did was the same.

Rude released his friend and moved out of the bathroom again and headed down the hallway back to the elevators. He was ultimately glad that his secret was safe, that he’d been able to settle things with Reno without the man suspecting that he was literally head-over-heels for him and went into a jealous rage almost every time the man had sex with someone else. He’d learned to handle the flirting, touches and kisses the redhead gave everyone...but the sex still bothered him. He hit the button for the elevator and got in when it arrived.

Reno followed his partner, hopping into the elevator, and let out a sigh of relief, happy the confusion between them had been resolved. “Wanna head to the bar tonight? My treat fer pissin’ ya off so bad.” The man said with a grin.

“Sure, sounds good.” Rude honestly didn’t want to go to a bar, but it seemed to be the only type of place Reno knew how to have fun. So, he’d take what he could get. And if Reno left said bar with someone else...so much the better. He really just wanted to watch a cheesy movie and then sleep. The day was only half over and he was already worn out.

Reno noticed how tired his partner looked and frowned. “Rude, I’ve known ya most of my life. Ya may not talk much but I know when somethin’ buggin’ ya. If ya wanna be left alone fer a while, just say it. Ya don’t have to go if yer still pissed or if somethin’ buggin’ ya.” Why did Reno feel like that conversation had gotten them almost nowhere? He still had this sense that he’d done something wrong but Rude wasn’t saying anything about it. “Come on, man. We’ve known each other since we were kids. I don’t want this tension to keep goin’. If I did somethin’, I’m sorry.” Reno gave his partner a look of sadness. He just wanted to fix whatever was bothering his friend. The redhead softened his tone and gave Rude a gentle nudge of his elbow. “Just tell me.”

Rude grinned, “Don’t worry about it. I’m tired, but I’d rather spend time with you then be bored out of my mind trying to sleep early.” He wasn’t going to let Reno weasel out of spending time with him. Granted that wasn’t what the man was trying to do...but that was jealousy for you. He mentally shook his head at himself, he needed to perk up before he gave his partner a coronary. “There really isn’t anything bothering me. Other than just being tired, I’m good.” He hit the button for the Department of Administrative Research.

Reno smiled when Rude explained. “Why don’t we just chill at yer place then? A bar might not be the best idea if yer tired already. We still have a long day.” He said with a long, satisfying stretch, and a heavy sigh of relief as his muscles relaxed. “What are ya feelin’ up to?”

Rude’s hormones kicked into first gear and he had to fight to remain still as the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. What he was ‘feeling up to’ was fucking his best friend. He really needed to get control of himself. He took a deep breath and moved out of the hanging contraption before answering Reno. “I don’t know. Really a bar is fine. Though if you’d rather stay in, we could watch a movie and order pizza or something.”

Reno perked up at the idea. “Oh, hell yeah! We haven’t had a movie night in forever!” Reno caught up with his partner and placed his hands in his pockets. When they got back to HQ Reno sat down and cracked his fingers before continuing the paperwork where he’d left off.

Rude smiled and went back to his own desk and the fresh pile of paperwork sitting there. With a mental sigh he set to work. He kept looking at his watch every five seconds it seemed. But finally it was 6:30 and he could clock off. So he rose from his seat and did so, then he tagged Reno’s shoulder before he left the room.

Reno’s mind was turning to mush from such repetitive work but was very happily snapped out of it with a tap on his shoulder. He got up and followed Rude out the door, very happy work was over. It had been one long day in his mind. Now he and his partner could just kick back and enjoy a movie.

They got into the elevator yet again and headed for the 32nd floor where their apartments were. Rude got out of the elevator and started toward his room, “If there’s anything you want to grab first go ahead, I’ll wait for you.” I’ll wait for you forever if that’s what it takes, he thought to himself.

Reno shook his head. “Nah, I’m good. What would I need fer a movie night anyway?” he asked with a laugh.

“Well, non-work clothes was what I was thinking of.” He looked sideways and whistled a sketchy tune, “I know I plan on changing first.”

Reno looked down at his wrinkled shirt, blazer, and pants. It didn’t bother him but he figured he might as well. The redhead went to his room and changed into some comfy jogging pants and a white t-shirt. He knew he’d be sleeping either at Rude’s or his own place eventually and he didn’t plan on going anywhere for the rest of the day. Tossing his dirty clothes into the hamper, Reno snatched his phone and made his way back to Rude’s place.

Rude made it to his room after Reno left and changed out of his work suit, he wound up in an old pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and socks. He grabbed some extra pillows and fleece blankets from his closet and tossed them on the couch before he went over to his wall of movies to try and decide what he wanted to watch...that Reno would actually watch with him.

Reno let himself in and instantly dove into the pile of fuzzy blankets on the couch. “Yes! Ya found the good ones!” He looked up and watched as Rude tried to find a movie for them to watch. “What’cha got?”

“Too damn many movies?” Rude threw over his shoulder. “I kinda wanna watch something sappy, but I don’t want you to be bored. Order pizza while I decide alright? And make sure you get a Hawaiian this time. I like fruit on my pizza, not just lots of meat.” He winced slightly at the double entendre his mind created as it linked his pizza preference to his sexual ones as well. And tried not to laugh at his brain’s way of telling him he thought his best friend was crazy...and he love it.

Reno held back a laugh at how Rude’s words sounded. The redhead’s mind was always in the gutter. He got up and dialed the number for their favorite pizza place. Reno chose to get half and half; one side Hawaiian, the other, ‘meat lover’s’. With that out of the way, Reno went to the kitchen to grab some soda. He grabbed himself a ginger ale and called back to his partner. “What do ya want fer a drink?”

“Do I have any Lifestream Lite left in there? If not I’ll make some tea or something in a minute.” Rude answered him, his eyes still scanning the multitudes of racks filled with movies on his wall. He finally spotted a good one that would work and plucked it away from the wall before moving over to his gigantic television and audio equipment. He opened his disc player and placed the movie in. They could watch through all of the previews for other movies while they waited for their pizza.

“Yup!” Reno grabbed Rude’s preferred beverage and walked back out into the living room, handing his friend his drink, and settling down on the couch. “The pizza shouldn’t take too long.” The Turk said, opening his drink and taking a sip.

Rude smiled as he took his drink from Reno, “Thanks.” He pressed play before settling down on the other end of his couch, putting a pillow between himself and the corner where the arm met the back, and pulling a large fleece blanket with a tiger stalking through the jungle pictured on it over himself. It was one of his favorites and was given to him by an old girlfriend...who he wound up having to fight against and then she disappeared. His other favorite was currently on his bed, it was black with a large red Wutain dragon winding around on it. Tseng had given it to him when the man convinced him to join up with ShinRa.

The previews started up as he settled back. The first one was a movie about some bloke taking a trip to the Temple of the Ancients and finding hidden treasure there...and apparently a hot chick… whateves. The next was a Wutain based story of tragic love and honor. One Rude REALLY wanted to see...but he’d have to go by himself again...which was lame. Maybe he’d just buy it. The third one was a comedy about two friends who buy a summer cabin in The Ancient Forest where this group of kids is camping. The kids wind up killing themselves off thinking that these two guys from the backwoods of Gongaga are going to kill them. It looked stupidly funny.

Just then there was a knock on the door, Rude rose from his seat and answered it. He smiled at the man who’d brought them their pizza. The guy was hot and was always hitting on him. The mood Rude was in just then, it did wonders for his ego. He paid for the pizza and set it down inside the room on the table next to the door, he held up a finger to Reno, telling him he’d be right back. Then he slipped out of the room and pinned the other man to the wall kissing him senseless. The dark haired man was perfect, and knew how to expertly use his tongue and his hands. Rude groaned low in his throat before coming up for air. “You’re off tomorrow right?”

The man nodded, “Yes. You want me to bring anything?” He was visibly shaking with need.

Rude shook his head, “Your sexy ass is all I need.” He dipped his head and bit the man’s neck sucking hard enough to leave a mark before he kissed him lightly on the lips again and went back inside his room. The pizza guy wilted against the wall for a few seconds before leaving.

Reno chuckled, surprised Rude thought he couldn’t hear him over the commercials. The redhead smirked but said nothing about it when Rude brought the pizza in. That was Rude’s business. He inhaled the scent of the pizza when he opened the box, licking his lips, and snatching a piece. “Eat up! They did a hell of a job this time!”

Rude smirked, “They always do.” He grabbed some plates from his cupboard and grabbed several slices of the Hawaiian before he sat down again. The movie itself was just beginning. He settled back into the couch with his blanket over him again and wondered at himself. He’d never even hinted that he thought that pizza guys was hot before, certainly never returned the man’s advances. He wasn’t sure what had possessed him to kiss the guy out of nowhere. He knew the guy had the next day off, because every time he’d ordered pizza on that day a girl brought it to him. Tomorrow was going to be awkward. Though maybe it was exactly what he needed, something to get him away from his obsession with his best friend. It was seriously unhealthy, especially since he knew Reno didn’t think of him in that way at all. And even if he could convince Red that they could be fuck buddies...it would eventually kill him. He’d want too much, far more than he knew Reno was willing to give him. So dating was a good thing.

That settled in his mind a slow smile filtered across his features and he began eating his pizza and paying attention to the movie on the screen. It was about some guy with ‘superpowers’, he had the strength of some of the SOLDIERs but he also had x-ray vision, could shoot laser beams from his eyeballs, and he couldn’t be damaged by practically anything. It was a great action movie even if some things were a bit off. Like how the man’s clothes were impervious as well...when that totally didn’t make any sense.

Reno put a few pieces of his preferred pizza on his plate and took a bite. He didn’t find the movie that great but it had been a long time since he and Rude just sat and had some time together. “Gotta say, I never would’a thought ya were gay.” He said out of the blue, never taking his eyes off the screen. He approached the subject without hesitation or any kind of awkwardness.

“I’m not really. I’m bi, I did date Chelsea after all.” Rude answered him before taking a swallow of his drink and grabbing another slice of pizza. He blushed slightly, it would figure that Reno had heard them.

Reno nodded and chugged almost half of his soda. “True.” The redhead noticed his partner’s face getting darker and shrugged, hoping to make him feel a bit more comfortable with the situation. “Nothin’ to get embarrassed about. I was just curious.”

Rude smirked, “It’s all good. No worries.” He turned his attention back to the movie.

Reno snatched up one of the blankets, placed his plate on the coffee table, and cuddled up, keeping his drink with him as he continued watching. After about 15 more minutes, Reno grew bored and completely covered himself up, placing a pillow under his head, and setting his drink with his food. “Is it cool if I sleep here tonight?”

“Yeah sure.” Rude rolled his eyes, why the hell did he like this guy again? He was always copping out on him. Rude stayed where he was until the movie was over, then he put everything away, locked the door to the hall and went to bed himself, locking his bedroom door as well. It wouldn’t do to have Reno wake him up and get attacked in Rude’s half-asleep state.


	3. Learning Something New

Reno woke the next day, covering his head with the blankets, not wanting to get up yet. He hoped he had a good hour or two before work at least.

Rude was up and ready for work, currently making coffee in his small kitchenette when he felt Reno wake up. Simply a sudden awareness that the other man was no longer asleep. He was sure it was a habit picked up from being a Turk, a danger-sense of a sort, but sometimes he wondered...because he only had it around Reno. “You gonna want some of this coffee? There’s only about an hour before work starts.”

“Damn it.” Reno cursed. “Yeah, I’ll have some.” The Turk sat up and stretched but grabbed the blankets wrapping himself up again. “I fuckin’ hate cold mornin’s.” He complained as he struggled to stay tightly snuggled in the warm fabric.

Rude chuckled, “Oh come on! It’s not that cold in here. It’s 22°C in here.” He shook his head at his partner before turning back to their coffee. He made up their mugs, each to his own preference and came to sit down on the couch next to Reno, handing the man his coffee. Rude felt much better this morning. He felt he knew what he needed to do now. And just maybe he could get over this infatuation he had with his best friend.

“I still get cold in the summer, yo! The blanket’s warm, the air outside of it? Not so much.” Reno quickly accepted the hot drink, took a long sip, and sighed happily as it began to warm him up. “Ohhh man, that’s good.”

Rude took a drink of his own coffee and simply shook his head at his friend. “Well you warm up then. Though I’m not sure how much good it’ll do you. You’ve still got to go out into the 4°C hallway to your own room and get dressed for work.”

Reno paused when Rude spoke, his smile from the hot coffee instantly fading into an angry pout. “I haaaate youuuuuu....” the redhead sulked as he placed his mug down and fell back on the couch, as if trying to bury himself in its warmth. “Don’t remind me.” Never was and never would be a morning person.

Rude chuckled again before finishing his own mug of coffee. “So I take it you’ll just be late to work again?” He rose from the couch and rinsed out his glass before setting it aside to wash later. Then he went back to his bedroom for his shades and locked the door on his way out. “I’m off, have some more coffee if you’d like.” He went out his apartment door, “Make sure you lock it when you leave. I don’t need Rod and Knife getting in here again.” Then he was gone.

“Damn right, I will.” Reno muffled into the cushions. After about 20 minutes, the Turk finally gave in and got up. He left to get ready for work, locking Rude’s door on his way as the man requested. Once in his uniform, he propped his goggles on his forehead, brushed his teeth, and ran his fingers through his hair until he was happy with it. With that, he grabbed his EMR and phone, put on his shoes, and was out the door. The redhead knew he would be late so simply enjoyed the stroll to HQ, winking at a cute newbie along the way. He held the door open for the short, brown haired woman, causing her to blush and smile shyly. “Didn’t know we had a new recruit.” She held out her hand and introduced herself.

“My name’s Peggy. I’m gonna take a guess and say you’re this ‘Reno’ Elena’s told me about.” The redhead smirked.

“Could be.” He responded. Elena facepalmed from her desk. Why did she have to include her?

Rude had headed to work, passing Kane and Shane in the hallway talking. The two fell in behind him, “So, Shades, you have a good time with Red the other night?”

He turned to look at them, “What do you mean?”

“Well we heard he was rather drunk and took a dare from Twain to wear a gorgeous red dress. We figured you’d have to jump him wearing something sexy like that.”

“Ha ha, very funny.” Rude glared at them, “Why would I jump my best friend? That’s ridiculous.”

Kane pouted but Shane simply changed tactics, “So, was the dress as pretty as Twain said?”

Rude chuckled, “It is. As far as I know, the man still has it. You should ask him about it.”

By this point they had reached the main floor and each headed off to their own desks to work. At least half an hour later Rude chuckled as Reno waltzed into the room. He came in with the new girl that was currently training with Elena. She was pretty cute, it didn’t surprise him in the least that Reno was obviously flirting with her. He had to duck his head so that no one could see his laughter when Shotgun shot out of her chair and raced across the room to him.

“Reno! I wanna see the dress! Can I see it?!?”

Reno’s smirk was replaced with a look of shock when the other Turk jumped into his face. “Considering we’re at work an’ it ain’t exactly work attire, I doubt the bossman would be too happy about it.” He responded, frowning with a bright blush when the new Turk began to giggle. Reno held it together pretty well all things considered but he slowly glared over at his partner when the man laughed behind his hand. Yeah he had a good idea of who spilled the beans. Being quite the artist when it came to acting, Reno shook it off and brushed his fingers through his hair with a smile as he made his way to his desk. “At least I’ll save a couple gil since you’ll be buyin’ yer own coffee today.” The redhead propped his feet up on his desk and began reading his first report. “But yeah. Ya can HAVE the damn dress if ya want.”

Shane shook her head at him, “I didn’t mean right now silly. After work will do just fine. But Twain’s description has me all excited!” She clapped her hands giddily. “You’ve never bought me coffee.” She looked at him confused as he moved to his desk but then bounced her way back to her own desk when he said she could have the dress. “Yay! And don’t a damn one of you saying anything! I’m allowed to be girly damnit!”

Rude burst out laughing after that, unable to remain calm at the sour look Shane threw over the lot of them. “No one would ever deny you the pleasure Shane, honest.”

“Seriously.” Twain answered with a shiver thinking back to a time a few years back when he had made fun of her for fangirling over something.

“Oh, not you. Rude.” He said, referring to the coffee, never looking up. He smirked at how defensive she was about being ‘allowed’ to be girly. “Hey, people liked it when I was. I’m sure they’ll love it when you are.” He teased, acting as though his irritation over the matter had left.

Rude simply raised an eyebrow at him, “Excuse you? I made you coffee this morning, don’t go acting like you regularly get me coffee when you know I’ve had enough of the stuff by the time you come into work every morning. But to be fair, I won’t ask you to get me lunch today.” He winked at him before going back to his paperwork.

Reno’s eyebrow twitched but he said nothing. When he knew Rude was focused on his work, the smaller Turk flicked an eraser at his partner, bopping him on the head. Reno still kept his eyes on his work however. “Oops.” Was his only response.

Rude simply rolled his eyes and tossed the eraser back to Reno’s desk before continuing to work. He wasn’t willing to get into another fight with his best friend. And honestly he hadn’t slept well, having the man he constantly dreamed about and lusted after sleeping on his couch had been torture and he had finally gone to sleep only an hour before his alarm went off. It had taken all of his will power to not crawl up on the couch next to Reno and go back to sleep. The only thing that had saved him had been imagining Reno’s shocked and horrified reaction to waking up wrapped in his arms. Since he was rather certain his partner would be startled and horrified by it.

Reno was a bit surprised with Rude’s reaction. He seemed quite far off in his thoughts. The smaller Turk sent him a quick text, asking him if he was alright.

“You seem kind of out of it. Something happen?”

Once the text was sent, Reno went back to work.

Rude texted him back, “Nope, I just don’t want to fight with you anymore.”

Reno read the text and smiled softly before responding. “Hey, I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to actually bother you. I was just teasing. If you wanna talk, I got time after.”

Rude smiled and answered back, “No need. You didn’t bother me, you just seem a bit sore over the dress thing. Shane and Kane latched onto me on the way to work this morning about it. Apparently Twain’s got a big mouth.”

Reno chuckled at the other Turk’s behavior before responding. “Just a bad combo I guess. New recruit, trying to flirt, and masculinity gets thrown out the window by a babbling chick. Wasn’t exactly ready for that one.”

Rude snorted before he could stop himself at seeing the text. He ducked his head behind his computer screen as Tseng glared in his direction and calmed his breathing so that he wouldn’t continue laughing. He reached into the bottom drawer of his desk and pulled out a can of Reno’s favorite drink and tossed it at him. “Catch.”

Reno smirked when Tseng glanced at his partner. Once their superior went back to work, Reno happily accepted the drink, opening it and taking a sip. Again, Tseng looked up at the hissing sound the can made but let it go once he saw the redhead went back to work...or so he thought. “Thanks!” he texted in response.

He texted Reno back, “You’re welcome.” Then got back to his own paperwork. Around lunch time Rude rose from his seat and headed for the doors, “Anyone want anything?”

Reno was balancing his pen on his nose out of boredom when Rude stood but the man’s words quickly got his attention. “I could go for some tomato soup an’ a bagel with some cream cheese if ya wouldn’t mind.” Reno tossed some gil to his friend to cover his food.

“Heck yes!” Shane shouted, “Can you get me a blueberry muffin?”

“Get me a sub sandwich and a coke will ya?” Hank asked also tossing gil Rude’s way.

Rude nodded his head to everyone and caught all the gil. “Any other takers?”

Elena smiled, “I’m headed down there myself in a bit. Taking Peggy and Twain so I think we’re good. Though you might wanna pick something up for bossman… or he’ll never eat.”

“A good point. I’ll be back in a bit then.” Rude headed for the elevator and down to the cafeteria, he grabbed what everyone else had asked for and two ham and cheese sandwiches and two cans of pepsi. Then he headed back up and dropped everything off at each person’s desk. He left one sandwich and a pepsi on Tseng’s lap. “Eat bossman.”

Tseng looked up startled, “Right.” He blinked down at the food before beginning to eat it mechanically.

Reno rubbed his hands together eagerly when the food arrived, wasting no time in spreading cream cheese over his bagel. He took a huge bite and a sip of soup, finally ignoring his work. The redhead had a big goofy smile on his face as the hot soup warmed him up.

“Don’t choke, Reno.” Elena commented with a giggle. She shook her head at her coworkers’ manners. If Reno was hungry, you could get him to do anything. Actually, he was more likely to do NOTHING until he got food. “A full Reno’s a happy Reno, I guess.” The redhead nodded, still munching away.

Rude rolled his eyes at his director and went back to his desk to eat his own lunch. He snickered slightly at Reno and Elena’s interaction but didn’t join in, too interested in filling his empty stomach.

“Yo, Rude, ya wanna hang at my place tonight? There’s supposed to be some pretty good movies on.” Reno asked, finishing off his bagel and sipping the soup he’d been given.

Elena looked up from her paperwork and over to Rude, shrugging her shoulders, hinting that maybe the large Turk should make his move. She knew how Rude felt and if she knew anything about Reno, it was that he wouldn’t react in whatever crazy ways Rude was thinking up. She wouldn’t actually be surprised if the redhead had been thinking about it too. Just to get the point across, she texted the man. “Come on, Rude. It could be your shot. Just go for it.”

Rude looked up as Reno spoke and then down at his PHS as it vibrated. He checked the message quickly a deep blush staining his cheeks before he closed it and shook his head sadly, “Sorry Red, but I’ve got a date tonight.”

Elena shook her head. Reno raised an eyebrow and smiled. “No joke? Who’s the lucky lady? I don’t think I can ever remember you going on more than like two dates.” Despite Reno’s enthusiasm, he was inwardly jealous. However, he and Rude weren’t together so it wasn’t like he could say anything.

Rude smirked at him. “I don’t know Red, who delivered our pizza last night?”

Reno chose to play Rude’s game right back. He stretched and scratched the back of his head. “You answered the door so I can’t really remember. Must have been one hell of a greeting to go on a date the very next night.” He responded with a wink.

Rude smiled, “It was, and you know it was. Not my fault everyone thinks I’m only into women.” The barb was only slight, but that had been one helluva kiss last night, and Rude wasn’t going to let the guy down. Besides, he’d never actually been with a guy before, so experience was needed.

Rude’s confidence on this put Reno back a bit. Yeah...He was jealous now. Rude had never sounded that excited over a date and it wasn’t like Reno wasn’t happy for him. “Hope ya have a good time then. Damn, who the hell am I gonna find fer a movie night then?” Upon hearing this question, everyone looked back at their paperwork and went quiet, making it very clear that Reno wouldn’t find the offer here. The redhead rolled his eyes and returned to his own work.

Rude grinned and went back to work for a few minutes then he pulled out his PHS to make a text of his own. “Reno needs a partner for movie night tonight, you up for it?”

Ten minutes later Remmy, Gwendolyn and Hank rushed into the room. “Someone say something about a movie night?!?”

Reno jumped when the trio burst in then glanced around, knowing someone must have notified them. However, the redhead nodded. “Yeah, supposed to be some good ones on tonight.” Reno explained with much less enthusiasm. Why was it bothering him this much? He and Rude always got together for movie night but a date was more important. So why did Reno feel like Rude should be staying with him instead? Elena could see it plain as day. Why did guys have to be so dumb?! Reno liked Rude too but he didn’t even know! The frustrated blonde texted Rude once more.

“Okay, I’m starting to think you wear those glasses for a reason. You’re completely blind, aren’t you? Reno’s 100%, through the roof jealous, Rude! You guys have known each other forever and you can’t see it?? Just look at him you dope!”

“Um, do you mind if we join you? We all know you usually have movie nights with Rude…” Hank trailed off looking down at his shoes a worried blush staining his cheeks. No one knew it, since he didn’t really talk all that much, but he had a bit of a crush on their second in command.

Rude looked down as his PHS went off yet again. Seeing Elena’s name pop he cringed before opening the message. Upon reading it he rolled his eyes and then shot her a text back. “He goes on dates and has sex with random people every week. I’m allowed one fucking date! He’ll get over it. I’ve been jealous for years! I get one bloody night!”

He turned his PHS off and put it back on his desk and got back to work.

Reno shrugged. “Can’t see why not. Should be a good time.”

Elena sighed in defeat when she saw Rude’s response. Of course he deserved a night. She thought Rude was only doing it to make Reno jealous. If he really did like this other man, he had every right. Elena just didn’t understand how Rude could be so open about going out with one guy but act so afraid of being honest with Reno. It was clear they were both interested. She gave up and continued her work.

“Awesome, thanks man.” Remmy said and the three of them dispersed to their own desks having just come off of guard duty to Rufus.

A few moments later Rufus himself walked in, “Tseng, I would like your help with something.”

Tseng who had just finished his lunch, having gotten distracted multiple times by work, stood up with a nod. “Of course Sir.”

He moved across the room and joined Rufus as he left. Across the room from Rude Gwendolyn snickered. Twain threw a balled up piece of paper at her, “Hush you.”

Everyone knew what Rufus needed Tseng’s help with after all. Rude chuckled and went back to work.

Reno didn’t pay much attention to the others when Rufus came in and left with Tseng. The redhead was more focused on his work, hoping to clock out as early as possible to get out of this slightly awkward situation. He should not be this bothered and he knew it. He hoped getting away would help change his mind set.

Rude forced himself to ignore everyone in the room and continued working until it was time for him to clock off. He rose gratefully from his chair and did so before heading back to his room. He cleaned up the pillows and blankets used by himself and Reno the night before and brought out clean ones. He changed into soft black slacks and a longsleeved silk shirt, then brought his stereo out of hiding and popped in an old CD of classical music. Next he set to making dinner for two: meatloaf, green beans, wine, mashed potatoes and gravy. He hoped the guy wasn’t allergic to anything and that he would like the food. At exactly eight o’clock there was knocking on his door. With a smile he dried his hands on a towel and went to open the door.

The guy had decked himself out splendidly; tight leather pants, a silk shirt much like Rude’s own, and a leather jacket against the cold, he had on a nice pair of boots as well. The man looked like he had had Sephiroth or Genesis dress him. Totally yummy. “Come on in.”

A nervous smile greeted his words as the man moved into the room, “Wow, this place is a lot bigger than I thought it was.”

Rude chuckled, “Yeah, the size is deceiving from the outside. Are you hungry?”

Black hair shifted as the man turned his green gaze to Rude, scanning him from the top of his bald head to his bare toes peeking out from beneath his long pant legs. “Starving. It smells wonderful in here. What did you make?” The guy made a concerted effort not to drool over Rude’s appearance and instead found himself drooling over the food he had made.

“Um, meatloaf, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, and then there’s wine to drink.” Rude answered him with a smile as he moved said items to his table already set for two.

“Sounds divine.” The guy hesitated however. Seeing this Rude moved over to him and gently kissed his lips before tugging on the man’s jacket. He leaned into Rude’s mouth and wiggled his limbs out of the leather.

Rude pulled away with a small smile and hung the jacket up by the door. “Make yourself comfortable.”

The guy grinned and bent down to untie his boots and carefully pull them off, giving Rude a wonderful view of his flexing ass. Once he had both boots off he moved over to where Rude was still standing beside the door and dropped them next to the footwear already there. He wrapped his arms around Rude’s neck and brought him in for a much deeper kiss. “I’m Jet, by the way.”

Rude grinned at him, “Hi Jet, I’m Diego.”

Jet sighed and rubbed his erection against Rude’s, “Goddess, even your name sounds delicious.”

Rude shivered, “Your’s is pretty sexy too. But we should probably eat the actual food before it gets cold. I’m pretty certain ‘we’ aren’t going to have that problem.”

Jet moaned and kissed him again before relenting and heading for the table. Rude followed and held his chair for him before serving dinner and sitting down to eat. The meal went well and they opted to watch a moving Rude had bought ages ago but hadn’t wanted to watch alone. It was super sappy and he hadn’t wanted anyone to interrupt him and find him crying over a movie. His coworkers would never let him live it down. But suitably wrung out and horney they moved to Rude’s bedroom. Jet made his day when his first comment was on how beautiful the fleece blanket Tseng had given him was.

Wrapping his arms around Rude's waist, Jet pecked the man's lip gently. “So, are we gonna make love on that beautiful blanket?”

Sliding his hands to Jet's hips Rude smiled at him, "Definitely."

They undressed each other slowly and clambered up onto the gigantic four poster bed, kissing and petting they learned each other’s bodies. In a swift move Jet had Rude on his back and slowly ground his erection into the hardness below him.

Rude's eyes fell closed at Jet’s actions, the slow agonizing pleasure hard to resist. Rude ran his fingers lightly up the outsides of Jet’s thighs to his ass, helping momentarily with the grinding process, but then he snaked a hand around and fisted it around that warm turgid length, the gasp he drew from the man above him was well worth it.

Jet’s head fell back and he couldn’t stop himself from thrusting into that warm channel, his cock began leaking and he whimpered. “I need you Diego.”

Rude shuddered hard as his name was spoke in such a wanton voice. He reached to the nightstand and pulled out a tube of lube and coated both hands with it. The one went back around that wonder dick and the other went to tease at the crevice that was currently rubbing back and forth across his own hardened penis. Jet moaned again and Rude slipped a single finger inside him.

“Yes!” Jet nearly jumped out of his skin at the rush of need and want that overtook him. He slammed his ass down on Rude’s finger before he was able to control himself. He looked down into Rude’s smirking face and blushed, to hide it he ducked his head down and began worrying Rude’s nipples with his tongue and teeth.

“Mmmm, that’s nice.” Rude slipped another finger into him, not letting up pumping up and down Jet’s length with his other hand. The man bucked onto his fingers again and Rude’s smile grew, he scissored them and was rewarded with Jet biting his nipple. A guilty face rose into his vision blood on its lips, Rude smiled and shook his head before leaning up to kiss him. “Don’t worry about it, I’m not breakable.”

Jet shuddered and with a growl smacked Rude’s hands away from him. He grabbed the lube sitting by Rude’s hip and slicked Rude’s cock with it before moving his entrance over it and slamming down on to him. A long moan ripped from both of their throats and they took up a harsh rhythm. They spent the rest of the night finding out what made the other sound like a two cent whore and enjoying every minute of it.

Reno had left work and was leading Remmy, Gwendolyn and Hank back to his room for their movie night. The redhead opened the door, only to hear Gwendolyn complain about the state of the room. “It’s filthy in here!” Reno glanced at his co-worker, kicking his boots off, and going to the fridge.

“If it pisses you off so much, why not go to your own place?” he asked bitterly, tossing the others each a beer and grabbing one for himself. “I wasn’t /quite/ the one who invited you all over, was I?” The trio glanced back and forth between each other. “Yeah, I figured. A certain little birdy tipped you off so you all came running to throw me a pity party. If I WAS, I would have cleaned up a bit, knowing you’d bitch about it.” Hank walked over and gave Reno a smile.

“Hey, it’s not like that. Yeah, we heard you’re kind of bummed out after that argument with Rude.”

“Don’t fuckin’ bring that up!!” Reno wanted to put that behind him. He wanted to forget the humiliation he felt when Rude had yelled at him. It wasn’t the argument exactly. It was that he never expected Rude to say anything like that in public. Then again, he’d probably done worse to his partner over the years. “Just...Just leave it alone, a’right?” Hank could tell Reno hadn’t really wanted them there in the first place and the mood was getting kind of heavy. He figured being the mediator would at least ease it up. He put an arm around Reno and gave him a firm pat on the shoulder.

“You got it. Just ease up. This isn’t a pity party. I wanted to come because I just enjoy movies and it’s not like any of us spend much time together anyway. So, come on. What do ya say we forget about all the stressful bullshit and just find a good flick?” The others were actually surprised that Hank not only handled Reno so well but even got him to calm down and agree! Gwen made a mental note to ignore any mess and to keep quiet about it. After all, it wasn’t like Reno had time to clean up.

About half way through the movie, Reno was getting very bored. “Back in a sec.” He said to his co-workers, who simply continued to watch the film. Reno went to the bathroom and splashed cool water over his face. He couldn’t even enjoy the movie. He had no right to be jealous!! He slept around all the damn time. He made his way to his bedroom and changed into some comfy pants before sitting on the edge of his bed and lighting a cigarette.

“That bad, huh?” Reno looked up to see Hank leaning against the door frame. The redhead sighed and rubbed his forehead.

“How long ya been there?” The tall man shrugged.

“Just got here. Told the others I was just gonna check on you-NOT saying you need a babysitter or anything.” Hank quickly clarified when Reno shot him a death glare. “I’m just a little worried. You’re not acting like yourself.” Reno puffed out a small cloud of smoke.

“That so? How would you know? We may work together but being flat out honest, you don’t know shit about me, do ya?” Hank didn’t take Reno’s words personally, knowing as well as anyone else that he could get testy pretty easily.

“I guess not. But I was hoping I could get to know you a bit better.” Reno paused before looking up at the other man. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting him to say but it certainly wasn’t that. He put his cigarette out and kept his eyes on his co-worker.

“Yer serious.” Hank nodded and walked over.

“You mind?” he said, gesturing to the bed. Reno shrugged and Hank sat next to him. “Look, I’m sorry if we pissed you off. I know...” he stopped, not wanting to bring up the argument again. “I know you’re not feeling too great and I guess it was a lousy time to try. I just didn’t want to pass up the opportunity, you know?”

“I get it. I’m alright though. I just- fuck, I wasn’t really ready to hear that. I kinda deserved it though.” Reno paused yet again, feeling Hank’s hand gently rubbing his neck. Reno soon went from confused to relaxed as the other man moved to his shoulders and back.

Remmy was wondering what was taking Hank so long and walked down the hall, freezing the second he saw the two. He quickly made his way back to the living room and quietly gestured for Gwen to get up and led her out of the redhead’s apartment, feeling they were no longer needed there.

Reno soon found himself on his stomach with Hank working on his back now. Neither of them spoke for quite some time. Reno found it strange that a guy he’d never even considered being with was now in his room, massaging him. He couldn’t deny that it was a bit strange but it was nice none the less. He heard Hank chuckle and plant a few soft kisses on the smaller Turk’s back. “I can’t lie. I’ve been pretty jealous of Rude for a while.” Reno looked back at him with half opened eyes. “I know you guys have been close for a long time. I just envied how he could always be around you and have your attention.” Reno snickered and turned over to pull Hank onto the bed.

“He ignores half the things I say. He just tolerates my babbling. It’s a skill he’s learned after years of me never shutting up.” Hank stayed beside Reno but did nothing, unsure of what the redhead wanted. “Ya gonna get undressed or do ya plan on sleepin’ in yer uniform?” Hank blushed but sat up and got undressed, leaving only his boxers on, and crawled under the blankets as Reno did the same. The redhead snuggled against the bigger man’s chest and yawned. After a few quiet moments, Reno shifted uncomfortably. “Yo. Mind scratchin’ my back a bit?” Hank chuckled and did just that, smiling as Reno finally dozed off.


	4. It's never easy, is it?

Rude woke tangled in warm limbs and his Ancient Forest Cotton sheets. With a slow smile he swept a hand slowly up the thigh thrown over his stomach, reveling in the quivering of the muscles below his palm.

“Good morning.” Said a sexily groggy voice from the pillow beside his head.

He turned and smiled happily into sleepy green eyes, “Morning.” Rude really didn’t want to have to get up and go to work today. This was perfection and he didn’t want to leave it. Or deal with Reno’s weirdness. The man hadn’t had the forethought to even ask if he could be into men over the entirety of the time they’d known each other - which was practically their entire lives. And yet now that he knew, he seemed all weird about it. Was it really so hard to believe?

“You have work today don’t you?”

Rude nodded, “Unfortunately.”

Jet ducked his head so that Rude could no longer see his face, “Would… uh, would you mind… I don’t even know how to ask this.” He chuckled a bit, “Well first off, um, are you averse to being taken?”

The blush that crept up Jet’s neck was nothing compared to the one that brought bright flames to Rude’s cheeks. “No, I’m not.”

Jet looked up at him a bit surprised by the quick answer, “Then, would you mind if I took you before you leave for work?”

Rude shuddered, “Shit. Just do me.” He reached over and pulled Jet fully on top of him, taking those full lips in a savagely needy kiss.

Jet moaned and writhed his body over Rude’s he found the lube with his toes as it had somehow wound up at the foot of the bed during the night, and he slicked his fingers. He stretched Rude slowly, the big man never letting go of his mouth. Once he had Rude begging for him he grabbed the lube again and coated his burning heat in the cool liquid, then he positioned himself at Rude’s entrance. He bit Rude’s lip and jerked up quickly as he gasped so that the dark skinned man had to release him. Now that he could see what he was doing the sight took his breath away: Rude was laid out under him panting, his legs bent and spread wantonly. Jet shuddered and slowly pushed his dick forward into that waiting hole. They both groaned at first contact, but no pain registered on Rude’s rapturous face. Soon they picked up a pace they both enjoyed and Jet did his damnedest to find and nail Rude’s prostate as often as possible.

“Yes!” Rude threw his head back into the pillows and pistoned his buttocks onto that hard warm length inside him, completely and utterly lost in the moment.

Jet grinned, he’d waited three years to see this sight. This big bad Turk - who always flirted back when he brought him pizza - writhing beneath him in ecstasy. It was perfect. However it got even better when Rude suddenly came on a sharp cry, his muscles clenching around him, pulling his own release out of him.

“That was incredible.” Rude sighed in contentment.

“Yeah. You’re gorgeous.” Jet rested his chin on Rude’s chest and simply stared at him.

Rude blushed, “Thank you.” Then his alarm went off and he huffed grouchily. “Apparently it’s time for me to go.”

Jet nodded and rolled off of him, “Will I see you later?”

“Any time you want lover.” Rude grinned at him and winked before moving off to take a shower.

Jet smiled and laid back against the pillows. Yeah, this was perfection all right. He watched as Rude got ready and left for work. Then he got up and took a shower of his own. He made the bed and left his name, address and number on a notepad by Rude’s bed. Then he made sure he had all of his things and that the door was locked when he left.

Rude had never felt so wonderful. He hadn’t had sex at all since Chelsea and it did wonders for his mood. Unfortunately it was readily noticeable by his fellow Turks.

“Well, shit. Why does everyone but me get laid around here?” Twain complained when he saw him.

Rude blushed but simply sat at his desk and began working through mission reports.

“Because you’re crude.” Elena supplied to him, and that was the end of it. At least for the moment.

Reno woke up and snuggled closer to the warm body next to him. Hank chuckled and began to play with Reno’s hair but stopped when the smaller Turk mumbled Rude’s name.

“Fuckin’ love ya.” He said with a smile and pulled Hank closer. Hank’s heart dropped but he didn’t want to make things awkward. He stroked Reno’s cheeks and gave him a weak smile, knowing he could never take Rude’s place.

“Time to get up, Reno.” The redhead shifted around a bit and opened his eyes, smiling back at Hank, completely unaware of what he’d said. “Work starts soon.” Reno pouted but sat up to stretch and get up. “Have a good sleep?” Hank asked. Reno nodded.

“Actually yeah, I slept pretty damn good.” Hank also got up and pulled on his suit just to be able to make it back to his own room for a clean one. He walked up behind Reno as he began brushing his hair and kissed his neck.

“I gotta head out. See you at work.” Reno was surprised with Hank’s sudden leave but left it alone, knowing he had only a few minutes to get ready.

Hank hurried down the halls to his own room and quickly changed into a fresh suit. He brushed his hair and teeth before leaving for work. He entered the room only a minute or so late, Rude glanced up and smiled at him. Remmy and Gwendolyn smiled and waved at him but didn’t comment on his tardiness. He sat down at his desk and began working, not sure how he would face Reno ever again. Sure he’d acted like he was unaffected, and he still wanted the guy. And of course Reno didn’t know what he’d said in his sleep. But Hank had, so he now knew exactly how Reno felt about Rude. He was pretty sure it wasn’t something the redhead had even admitted to himself yet. But he couldn’t stop thinking about it. He knew that Rude had been in love with Reno for years, but he also knew that Rude would let him have Reno if that’s what he thought Reno wanted. He sighed, he didn’t think he was going to get much work done today.

Reno entered the Turk HQ and tossed Rude a soda in thanks for the one he’d given him yesterday, giving him a smile and taking his seat. “Chilled and straight out of the vending machine.” He said, grabbing his pen and reading over the first document on his desk. Elena was happy to see that Reno was at least able to perk himself up a bit overnight.

Rude smiled at him, “Thanks. You have an alright movie night?”

Reno furrowed his brows as though he was deciding whether it was or not. “Could’a been worse.” He said with a shrug.

Rude winced slightly, but looked up over at his friend and wished he hadn’t. The way Reno was furrowing his brow made Rude instantly hard, imagining fucking that damnedable look off his gorgeous face. Rude flushed and quickly looked back at his work, “Would you like me to make it up to you?”

Hank flinched at Rude’s words, knowing how deeply Reno cared for the other man… and honestly how deeply Rude cared for Reno, it was hard. It hurt to realize that no one could make the redhead happy the way the Coastan could. But he supposed if Reno wasn’t too hurt or melancholy that he would agree and perhaps their working environment would go back to normal. Maybe it would give them a chance to tell each other how they actually feel. Or at least for Reno to finally realize how he actually feels. Hank was selfishly hoping that Reno would realize and that it would freak him out and send the fireball into his own waiting arms - a man could dream after all.

“Hell yeah! You good for after work today?” Reno responded, feeling a fluttering in his heart, knowing Rude hadn’t forgotten about him. Okay, so maybe forgetting him was a bit of a stretch but that was how it felt at least. “Not sure if there are any good movies on tonight or what we can do if there’s not but I’m sure we can come up with something.” The redhead thought about it, completely unaware of how dirty his response sounded.

Rude shook his head with a smile, “Yeah I’m free. And you haven’t watched all of my collection yet. And no I’m not talking about the sappy ones you’ll never watch anyway.” Rude gave him a pointed look.

Reno chuckled and raised his hands. “Alright, you win. Tonight, you pick whichever movies we watch. Even if you don’t think I’ll like them. I’ll give them a chance.” Crossing his arms, Reno smiled at his partner and gave a shrug as if to say ‘how bad could it be?’

Rude shook his head, there was no way Reno would enjoy the truly sappy movie he really wanted to watch. Rude had gotten it simply because he wanted to cry over it. However, he didn’t want to cry in front of his partner. Not ever! He would pick one of his favorites instead. “Sure thing Red.”

Reno finished most of his paperwork but chose to leave the rest for tomorrow. He’d been given a bit extra today and he wasn’t sure if his brain could take any more. “Ughhhh, wanna clock out early, partner? I need some R & R time.” He said with a wink, hinting at the joke of their names. “When the hell did we even come up with ‘Reno and Rude’ time anyway?”

Rude chuckled, “‘We’ didn’t, you did because you thought it was funny that R&R meant Rest and Relaxation...but was also our names. I’m almost done here, won’t take me more than a couple of minutes. You go on ahead.”

Reno thought for a moment. “Oh yeah. Reno & Rude time sounds better.” He said with a snicker. He put his feet up on his desk and yawned. “Nah, I can wait.”

Rude just shook his head and got back to work. Once he was finished he stood up and walked over to Reno, knocking his feet to the floor. “Come on lazybones.”

Reno jumped when his feel thunked on the floor and looked up with surprised eyes. “Damn, don’t do that. I was half asleep, yo.” He said, putting a hand over his heart and furrowing his brows. He was more startled than angry. “Ya finished?”

Rude rolled his eyes, “Obviously.” With that remark he headed out of the room and toward the elevator that would take him back to his apartment.

Reno scratched the back of his head and stretched before following Rude, hopping into the elevator. “We got any snacks and drinks, or should I make a trip to the vending machines?” The redhead asked through a yawn.

“There’s plenty. I’ve got several kinds of chips, pretzels, soda, beer, juice… I can make us some pizza bites if you want. We should be good. Though I guess if you want any candy you should stop by a machine. Oh, I’ve got popcorn as well.” Rude answered as they left the elevator on his floor.

“Hell yeah! That would be awesome!” Reno chimed and followed Rude back to his place.

Rude unlocked the door and pushed it open before gesturing for Reno to enter before him, once they were inside he closed the door and headed for the kitchen, loosening his tie as he went.

Reno all but flew onto the couch, making himself at home. “So, what movie do ya have in mind?”

Rude took his tie off and tossed it onto the counter as he pulled down a bowl and the popcorn, “Well, there is a movie I just recently got that I just haven’t been wanting to watch alone. If you really don’t mind what we watch we could watch it?”

He put the packet of popcorn in the microwave and hit the button then raided the fridge for a beer, “What do you want to drink?”

Reno chuckled, knowing Rude was probably planning to watch it alone because he was worried he might shed a tear or two over it. The redhead never minded the fact that Rude had a tendency to get emotional over sappy movies. In all honesty, he thought it was kind of adorable that this big, intimidating guy would cry over things like old romantic dramas. Reno sat up and furrowed his brows in thought. “Uuuuumm, I’ll have some o’ that dumb apple vodka if there’s any left.”

Rude smirked, of course Reno wanted alcohol. “You want it mixed with anything? The movie’s on top of the t.v. stand if you want to set it up.”

“Nah, I’ll take it hard.” He replied, hopping off the couch and picking up the movie, refusing to comment on it yet. It might not be his kind of film genre but who knows; maybe he’d enjoy it. He set everything up and sat back down on the couch, waiting with the remote so Rude wouldn’t miss anything.

Shaking his head Rude poured a generous portion of the vodka into a glass and pulled the popcorn from the microwave as it beeped. He poured it into the bowl and brought both bowl and glass to the couch, setting them on the coffee table. Then he went back for his beer and switched the kitchen light off. Momentarily pitch black he chuckled to himself, “Forgot to turn the lamp on first.” He moved over to the couch again and flipped his floor lamp on before removing his suit jacket and undoing all the buttons on his shirt and rolling the sleeves up. Then he kicked off his shoes and settled into the couch. “Make yourself comfortable Red.”

Reno blinked when the room when black and laughed. “Bravo.” He teased as his eyes readjusted to the light. He then accepted his drink, took a sip, and pressed ‘play’ on the remote. The redhead did just as his partner said and made himself comfortable, flopping his feet over Rude’s legs, and leaning back against the arm of the couch.

Rude smirked at his partner and took the man’s shoes off, “No shoes on the couch man. Geez.” Once the movie started though he was enthralled. This one was sad in any way, it was kind of new to him really, he didn’t watch porn like the rest of the Turks seemed to. And while this was a historical drama… there was a LOT of sex in it… which he hadn’t been expecting. His face was on fire and he only dared to look at Reno out of the corner of his eye, far too embarrassed to look at him fully.

“Aright, alright, my bad.” Reno said as Rude removed his shoes. The movie wasn’t too bad. While it wasn’t something he’d go for first, it was decent. The redhead snickered when he noticed Rude’s reaction. “Yo, ya gotta stop treatin’ me like I’m yer parent or somethin’ every time a pair o’ tits come on screen. It makes it fuckin’ awkward. Go jerk off or somethin’ if ya need to.” The redhead took another sip of his drink and a few more pieces of popcorn.

Rude turned to glare at his best friend, “I don’t need to ‘jerk off’, watching other people do it, doesn’t do it for me. Never has, never will. I just didn’t realize there would be sex in this movie.”

Reno raised his hands defensively at his partner’s outburst. “Jeez, okay. How the hell was I supposed to know? No reason to freak out at me.” The redhead pulled his feet away and kept to his side of the couch, still unsure as to what he did to set his partner off like that.

Rude was a little weirded out by Reno’s response, it’s not like he was angry or anything. He was just sick of how Reno always jumped to conclusions and those conclusions always revolved around sex. It made him feel dirty to think that his partner thought all he was good at was jerking off to or crying at movies. Especially since it was something he’d never done before, and never would. With a roll of his eyes he turned back to the t.v. and watched the rest of the movie in silence. This is why he knew he and Reno would never work as a couple, the redhead drove him fucking crazy! He loved him dearly, but it just wouldn’t work. He really should just get over this stupid crush already.

Reno was still confused by Rude’s reaction. He didn’t want things to stay like this. “I didn’t mean anything by it. Why do we keep arguing?” It was a genuine question. He had no clue why Rude was so on edge around him or what he was doing to frustrate the man. “It kinda feels like no matter what, we wind up getting like this. What am I doin’ that’s setting you off?” Reno wasn’t trying to stir up trouble. Quite the contrary in fact.

Rude sighed as he rose to put the movie away, perhaps being honest and getting shut down would end this stupid crush? He turned around to face Reno, “You always assume my reactions are because of something that would never set me off. Sure I may get emotional because of movies and books, but I don’t get horny because of them. But that’s always what you assume I am. I was embarrassed because I asked you to watch a movie with a bunch of sex in it, that’s something lovers do, not work partners or even best friends. Granted, I didn’t know there would be sex in this movie, but that just makes it even more embarrassing.”

Reno tilted his head as Rude explained and smiled. “Look, I didn’t know. I honestly just thought you got turned on and might have been embarrassed about it. That’s why I wanted to just be open about it. When have I assumed that before? And of course I’m not gonna know what turns you on. It was a mistake. So the movie had some sex. You don’t have to get embarrassed about something like that.” Reno paused for a moment and scratched the back of his head, hoping this wouldn’t sound too strange. “Especially around me. We've known each other for years.”

Rude scrubbed his hands over his face, “That’s exactly WHY it’s so embarrassing. I’ve kind of had a crush on you for years… so watching something like that… just isn’t okay.”

Not the best way to tell someone something, but he was flustered damnit! He looked down at his socked feet a blush covering his face. He didn’t really know what to expect from his friend: declarations of hatred ran through his mind, the smaller Turk coming at him flailing his fists because he was pissed off at him, them going to his room and having sex for the rest of the night, but mostly he was scared that he’d just lost his best friend. That Reno would never want to be around him again.

Reno’s smile very slowly widened until he began to laugh into his hands. He swept some stray hairs from his face and got a hold of himself. “Rude, it’s fine. Did you really think I’d go anywhere if you told me? What the heck did you think I’d do, beat you? Come on, yo. You know me better than that.” Reno got up and walked over to his partner, playfully flicking his earring. “Why do ya think I pester ya like a fuckin’ fly on the wall if you don’t pay attention to me?”

Rude flinched when the man laughed, he certainly hadn’t been expecting that and it stung. He shrugged at Reno’s suggestions, having actually thought of several of them. But he answered the last question honestly, “Because you’re annoying and you crave attention.” He paused and looked off to the side before mumbling, “I just figured it would be awkward for you if you knew.”

Reno could tell his laughter had actually upset Rude a bit when he was hoping it would have lightened the mood. The redhead face-palmed at his partner’s response. “I did not think you’d be as dense as I am.” He said and ran his thumb over the rim of the other Turk’s ear. He leaned extremely close to Rude until their noses barely touched. “If you tell me you still don’t get it, you are officially more thick skulled than me and that’s sayin’ somethin’.” Who knew; maybe a self aimed joke would be enough for Rude to stop beating himself up.

While Rude had a hunch, he didn’t really believe it and felt like he was being played. “Exactly what am I supposed to get? You flirt with everyone, the same things you do to me, you do to everyone. Doesn’t seem to be much to understand.”

He spit the words out, his jealousy taking over out of nowhere. Wincing at his own venomousness he looked down at Reno, “Sorry. That was uncalled for.” He wanted nothing more than to leaned down and capture that mouth, but the last time he had pushed Reno for what he really wanted, the man had run scared. And considering that was only a few days ago, he didn’t like his odds.

Reno’s hand froze where it was. He was right. Of course he had reason to doubt him. “Is that why you’ve been so pissed; because I flirt with other people?” He pulled his hand away, shrugging when Rude apologized. “Yeah, it was.” He said bluntly. For once, Reno didn’t feel he was to blame. He was almost always playing pranks and causing some kind of mischief. One of the few times he shows genuine concern and care for someone, it gets thrown back in his face. “Ya know, it might sound weird coming from me but yer being pretty fuckin’ childish. I let you know that you can trust me with this and you say some fucked up shit like that? Yeah, I flirt a lot. It doesn’t mean I can’t care about someone and it sure as hell doesn’t mean I deserve to hear anything like that.”

Rude went completely still, “I never said you couldn’t care for someone! I know it’s childish. I’m sorry for bringing it up.” He moved away from Reno and picked up his discarded clothing then shut the t.v. off and headed for his bedroom to put his clothing away. Reno could stay or go as he pleased, he felt asking the man to leave would really kill any friendship they had left.

No; he hadn’t said it exactly like that. But what Rude did say was more than enough to make him feel that way. Reno quietly put his boots back on and left. He made his way down the hall and knocked on a door. When Hank answered, Reno gave him a weak smile. “You busy?” he asked, a slight crack in his voice. Hank looked down at his co-worker and gave him a look of concern.

“No, I’m not. Are you okay?” he asked. Reno shook his head. “Come in.” Hank put a hand on the redhead’s shoulder and ushered him in, closing the door behind him. Well, something had gone horribly wrong. If it made Reno quiet, it was bad. “Reno, wha-?” Hank was cut off when Reno wrapped his arms around his waist and pressed his cheek against his chest.

“Doesn’t matter right now.” Reno responded. It was the closest feeling to hugging Rude he could get. The smaller Turk hiccuped when he tried to keep a sob down. The second Hank heard that, he was furious. He tilted Reno’s head up to look at him and frowned when he confirmed his suspicion. Seeing sadness in those eyes was just not right. “Sorry.” Reno’s face went red. He hadn’t meant to get this worked up.

Rude heaved a sigh as he heard Reno leave sure he’d officially fucked up his life. His thoughts turned to the other Turk he knew had a crush on Reno and he gave a weak smile as he thought, ‘Well he’s got a definite chance now.’ And then he gulped, ‘Oh shit! Hank’ll kill me for hurting Reno! Or at least he’ll try. Shit.’ He sat down on his bed and groaned in frustration. Confessing wasn’t supposed to feel like this, was it?

“It’s alright Reno,” Hank spoke softly as he wrapped his arms around the smaller man and hugged him back. At the very least he could comfort him, for now. He would still like to have Reno as his own, but he realized that Reno’s heart already belonged to Rude. He wasn’t stupid enough to think he could seriously compete with love that had been around for years. “I’ll always be here for you. I’m also sure the last thing Rude wanted to do was upset you.”

Reno wasn’t so sure this time. Normally he could tell when Rude was joking or just frustrated but lately, his words were a lot harsher. The incident in the cafeteria and now this; he couldn’t tell if he meant what he was saying or not. “There are some things ya just shouldn’t say.” Reno responded. For him of all people to make a statement like that was saying something.

Hank had to ask, “What exactly did he say?” He couldn’t imagine Rude being hurtful on purpose… unless of course he was hurting already… “No forget that. What happened to make him say whatever it was? He’s not generally a snippy person unless he feels threatened.”

Reno stayed silent for a while but eventually responded. “It doesn’t matter.” The redhead held Hank closer and closed his eyes. “Guess bein’ flirty can make just about anyone think like that about ya.” He said with an embarrassed and masked smile.

“Being flirty? Reno.” Hank grabbed him by his shoulders and held him away slightly so he could look him in the face, “Rude doesn’t dislike that you’re flirty, he’s just super jealous of it. So am I for that matter. It doesn’t happen to make us love you any less. But in Rude’s case, he’s been trying so hard not to let you know, but every time you get drunk and he’s the one taking care of you, it gets harder for him not to jump you. The man needs to get laid on a regular basis, but he doesn’t because the only person he wants is you. But he doesn’t think you want him back the same way. If you want him to understand, you’ll have to spell it out for him. Coastan’s are kind of thick headed.” He leaned down and kissed Reno’s cheek hoping that by being honest Reno would perhaps see things from his and Rude’s perspective.

“I was honest with him. He just acted like I was some slu-.” Reno paused when Hank flat out admitted his feelings for him. He’d never had anyone say it so plainly to him. Rude’s way was more like he was burdened by it. “At least you don’t make it sound like havin’ a crush on me’s annoyin’.” He said, raising an eyebrow in an unimpressed fashion. “I thought I did fuckin’ spell it out.” He sighed heavily. “And he says /I/ make things complicated.” The redhead rolled his eyes. “How the hell do I spell it out for him? I’m guessing you’d have an idea because no matter what I say, he brushes it off.”

Hank smiled down at him, “You are so damn adorable.” He chuckled a bit before a serious expression took over his face. “Did you tell him that you love him? Like actually say it? Those words? Can you be around him without drinking alcohol so he knows it’s not just the drink talking? That’s what he’s the most afraid of, that you’ll be together and it’ll be great. But then you won’t remember it, or you’ll act like you don’t because you were drunk.”

“Not those words exactly. What does he expect me to do after sayin’ shit like that? Fuck it, I’ll just HAVE to spell it out, I guess.” Reno shook his head and smiled, hoping Hank wouldn’t take it the wrong way and leaned up to kiss him on the lips, knowing it probably meant a lot. “Thanks fer bein’ honest. I gotta go sort that dope out. I’ll see ya later, a’right?” With that, Reno made his way back to his partner’s place and didn’t bother knocking. He opened his partner’s door and crossed his arms, staring at the man. “Up.” He said dryly. “Come on, up ya get! You owe me that much after what ya said.” The tone in his voice was clearly not upset however.

Hank returned the light kiss, sure it would be the only one he ever got, and smiled at him, “You’re welcome. You go do that. You two were made for each other.” And he watched him leave.

Rude had stilled when his door opened again, the distinctive sound of Reno’s walking crossing the living room to stand in his doorway. He looked up at his words and stood slowly a worried and terrified look on his face. Did Reno not want to be his partner any more? Though he didn’t sound angry… but Rude knew he had hurt him, and he hadn’t meant to. “I’m so sorry Reno.”

Reno rolled his eyes. “A’right, I need ya to clean yer ears out an’ actually listen. I love ya. Get it? Yeah, I’ve wanted to shove my EMR up yer ass fer a while fer freakin’ out at me whenever ya get close but I love ya.” Reno looked away when Rude apologized, since he’d actually be hurt by the man’s words but tried to push them aside. “Yeah, I know. Forget it.” He was still pretty pissed though.

Rude blinked, did he really mean it? He loved him? He flinched as his apology was tossed aside, the euphoria of being told he was loved fading as he realized he’d hurt Reno even more than he thought. He wasn’t sure what to do, he wanted so desperately to go to him and hold him close, but he didn’t want to make him angrier. ‘Fuck it.’ “Will it piss you off if I hug you right?”

“Not anymore than I already am.” Reno answered honestly with a shrug. He knew his anger over it would blow over eventually. “It’s up to you.”

Well that was less than encouraging, he sighed, “Would you like me to hug you? Or should I just piss off and never go near you again?” It hurt so much to ask that Rude could barely get the words out, his chest tightening like he was about to cry. He wouldn’t do that to Reno however, falling apart in front of him when he was already rightfully mad at him would be the lowest thing in history.

“Oh, stop it. I’ll get over it by tomorrow. You know I’m too lazy to hold a grudge against you so just give me the damn hug.” Reno remained where he was with his arms crossed but he was being honest.

Rude took a deep fortifying breath and scooped the man up into his arms, burying his head in his neck, “I love you.”

Reno was expecting a hug but not to be yanked off the ground. He froze where he was and let Rude nuzzle his neck. Yeah, this would take some getting used to. Reno had never really been in love or shown much of a romantic side. Hell, he didn’t even know he had much of one but he knew what he felt for Rude wasn’t what he felt for anyone else. He wrapped his arms around Rude’s neck regardless and smirked.


End file.
